Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Kenneth attended Alfred University in New York for one year until he entered the U.S. Army Air Forces in January of 1942. A B-24 pilot, he was sent to Italy as replacement in the 720^th Bomb Squadron, 450^th Bomb Group. In his bomber, "Dottie Darling," Kenneth flew missions against targets that included oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania and factory targets in Germany. He completed fifty missions and was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross. Returning to the United States he taught in a flight school in Harlingen, Texas until he was discharged in late summer of 1945. Kenneth returned to college at the University of California at Berkeley. He also joined the Air Force Reserves and served for twenty-four years. He worked for Brown Paper Mill in Monroe until retirement.